A Remembrance

The old knight left the chapel after spending a full nights vigil and left immediately for the stables. Dressed in his finest armor and a tunic emblazoned with countless crests he set about preparing his mount in the same fashion. He knew the pages, though ordered by himself not to be present were indeed hiding in the lofts watching. He wondered what they thought of him. Did they think him crazy he thought? He had never told anyone of what this day meant to him. He put these thoughts behind him as he readied Bruno in the same fashion as he. He was almost done except for Bruno’s matching coverlet to his own. Once again his mind stretched out to his surroundings. He counted eleven in various stages of hiding, all sure they were unseen. He almost chuckled. Maybe tis time he thought to pick one to carry on the this task as he himself had been chosen so many years before. Who would it be he wondered. He decided to see if anyone here knew anything of what he was doing already. The old knight backed away from his mount and with hands on hips began to survey his surroundings, making sure not to make eye contact with any of the pages. He wandered about checking everywhere for something unfound. He was almost ready to give up when a young page broke from his hiding spot to open the cedar chest mounted on Bruno stable wall. He quickly opened it and then gingerly produced the coverlet and presented it to the old knight. The old knight recognized the page as the grandson of Lrd Tandarius Luther. He bore his fathers fathers name, tho typical of the young preferred a shorter version as he himself had once done. "My thanks young sir" thanked the old knight as he accepted the coverlet and proceeded to finish readying Bruno. The young page was about to scurry off when he was stopped dead in his tracks by the old knight. "Tanny, isn’t it?" the old knight asked while smoothing out the wrinkles of the coverlet. "Aye M’Lord!" he blurted out almost choking on the words. "What would yee be a doin this day if I may ask young sir?" he asked while checking that each crest was still attached, slowly rubbing his fingers over each, lingering but a moment then on to the next. "I am free this day M’Lord, tis my seventh day." He answered quite nervously. "Would thee mind accompanying and old knight." He asked quite sure that he was making young Tanny nervous just as he always was when an old knight asked of him to travel along. He decided that the best way was not to give him a chance to object, not that he would, he chuckled to himself. "I shall saddle a horse for thee young sir. Would thee do me the favor of making sure old Bruno here is made presentable?" The old knight asked as he made his way towards the next stall. Tanny walked slowly over to the old knights mount. Knowing from past experience that Bruno could be quite cantankerous when he felt like it. But this time he allowed himself to be touched, even gently rubbing his head against Tanny as he smoothed the cloth covering about his muscular neck. Tanny looked into his eyes as he did this and saw the same as in the old knights, a sadness. He shook his head of this and continued his task. He was almost finished when his hand came upon a crest that caught his eye, twas his own! What is this he wondered. He was about to inquire when again he was stopped in his tracks. "You there!" the old knight bellowed behind Tanny. "Aye M’Lord!" Tanny almost shrieked. "Not yee me lad," he said a bit more gently while pointing about the stable, "those others hidin about." One by one the others snapped too in front of the old knight. "You," he said pointing to the fastest looking of the lot. "Run tell the Page Master I require the services of Page Luther for this day and the next. And be quick about it!" the page was gone before he finished the final word. Fast lad he thought, oh to be young again.

"And you lot" he said trying not to scare the rest, "run off and get Tanny’s gear, enough for two days. And don’t forget some food for the lad." He added. "Now off with ya!" That was the last the old knight said till both were ready. "Tanny," he said as he mounted, "Go to the box and get the saddle bags there in and put them on thy mount. Old Bruno here has enough to carry." Quickly the young page quickly retrieved the bags and tied them to his mount. "Lets go me lad, we have a long day ahead of us." The old knight said as he urged his mount out of the stable. Tanny mounted and quickly followed. The rode hard for hours, stopping only occasionally to walk the horses and for the old knight to take a walk in the woods. Tanny thought it must be awful to get so old you had to stop this often to, well you know. Each time he got something out of the saddle bags and headed into the woods only to return minutes later in a rush. And they would be off again. This went on for hours until they stopped for a break beside a slow running fork in the river. After looking after the horses, Tanny made his way tentatively to the sight the old knight had chosen. He noticed the old knight absently munching a cookie, staring across the river. "Ah, yer back. Good. Have a seat lad." He said patting the stone beside him. "and have a cookie." He said holding a package out to him. "I developed a likin fer’em long ago. Tis an old recipe. The cook fixes’em fer me when I gives ‘er one a me roses." He chuckled. Tanny took both the seat and the cookie. He loved cookies! Twas not often he was able ta sneak any. He took a bite and almost swooned twas so good! Noticing the pages expression, he offered another. "Aye, they be good, though eat’em slowly. Savor the experience boy. Life is full of these little experiences. Remember it" He finished with a wink then returned to staring across the river. Tanny, notice the flavor as he slowed his bites to savor each morsel. He to began to stare out over the river. He had never been out this far, he wondered where they were at. He was about to inquire when the old knight began to speak again. "Twas a large battle across there." He said pointing to a large clearing across the river. "Many would say twas a glorious fight" he said slowly shaking his head. "Have yee heard o’ it young Tanny? Twas called the battle of Twin Rivers it was." The old knight asked. "Aye M’Lord." Tanny answered sadly upon hearing this. " My grandpappy fought and ….died in that battle." He suddenly forgot about the cookies in his hands. " Me pappy told me of it." he answered. "Twas a glor….big battle. Knights and squires from all across the realms fought and won the day here. Though I never knew where here was till just now." "Aye. They won the day they did. And a big battle it twas indeed…Run and get my pack from yer mount." He asked while still munching his cookie. Tanny returned with the pack and stood there waiting for the old knight to run off with it to the woods again. But was only told to sit once again. "Open the left side and find the package with the crest o’ yer family on it." Tanny was dumbstruck as he looked through the bag. It contained dozens of cloth packages, each with a crest emblazoned on it! Some he recognized from the walls of Camelot, and still others from those worn by knights to this day. And all emblazoned upon both the old knights tunic and that of Bruno. Upon finding his own family crest he offered it to the old knight. "Open it." was all the old knight said. Tanny opened it and found it contained silk cloth embroidered with crests of both his family and that of KORT, along with a white rose. He knew the old knight loved roses, to tell the truth everyone knew it. It was said that at one time twas a pages duty to work the rose garden. But then one day a Lady Knight named Valeana asked a young page to clean it up.

After he was finished, it was so lovely that she could bare not to see it in any other way, and asked of him to please keep it that way so she might spend a peaceful moment or two there. The young page made a vow to never let the roses go unattended again. Every since, no other page has ever had this task. "The rose I see has caught thy attention" the knight spoke. "Surely the entire garden be here." Tanny answered. "Nay..Only the white ones." He said while retrieving the rose from Tanny’s hand. Turning around to survey for any damage and to smell it’s sweet fragrance. "The red would be wasted in a place where so much has already been. And the yellow must stay for the Lady." Was all he said. They sat in silence for a few more minutes before the old knight spoke again. "Know thee what we are about this day?" he asked of Tanny. "Nay M’Lord." Tanny said hopefully. "Remembrance." He said handing the rose back. "Tell me, what is rumor as to this trip? What is it the pages think we are about today?" "Tis thought M’Lord that thee have an old friend thee visits but once a year." he answered quickly. "Then they be right..For tis true. We visit old friends. Friends long gone." The old knight said looking into Tanny’s eyes smiling with a hint of sadness. "On a day such as this..many years back, when I too was but a page an old knight named Augustus took me on a trip such as this. He had chosen me to carry on a task passed on to him as I now do you." He said softly. "Before we go any further I must ask a vow of thee." Tanny snapped to attention. "You’ve only to name it M’Lord." "Sit young Tanny, this vow can be sworn too and taken whilst sitting." He said once again patting the rock. Tanny quickly sat, nervous again at the mention of a vow that needed sitting to take. "There are five things required o yee for this vow. One, yee must sit a vigil in the chapel, sayin a prayer for each o the fallen. Tis a long list lad, too long..and it grows each year. Two ye must memorize each location to place that which is in the packages." He stopped to see if he had scared the lad yet. Seeing he had not he continued. "Three, yee must learn to take care o the rose garden, this part o the vow I ask of thee fer me. I know I will not forever be able to take care o the garden. Have yee been there? Tis a peaceful place tis it not. Twas the Ladies idea o addin them to the remembrance. I can teach thee if yer willin." "Aye M’Lord twould be my pleasure." "Good, tis a peaceful thing to do, and a peaceful setting to do it in, helps ta get yer thoughts away from the ill’s o the world every now and then. I thank thee." "Four, ye must chose another such as yourself when the time comes for you to pass the task." He said stopping for a moment to look away. Tanny thought the old knight had a tear in his eye! He suddenly felt as if the weight of the world was being thrust upon his young shoulders. "And lastly, ye must outlive yer friends." He said fighting back tears. "Know thee the code yet young page?" "Aye M’Lord, a knight must live by the code. Fealty, Spirituality, Courtesy, Honesty, Valor, Honor and Humility. All observed at all times." Tanny repeated just as he had been taught by the Page Master. "Aye, those be the words all right me lad." The old knight said staring at the bulging saddle bag. "But the code rests across the river, back along the road we traveled, on yonder mountain," he said pointing to the east, "in every place where a man or woman has fought and died. And lastly," he said lightly tapping over Tanny’s heart. "in there."

"Are yee willing to die this day? If I gave thee a choice of dying for those words or mountin up and never lookin back..I wonder what yee would choose." "Across the way there, they chose to die not for words but a philosophy they believed in to their very being. The code means nothing without the will to follow it not blindly but willingly. Know thee the difference I wonder..Nay I put you down not, for the young think they’ll live forever. And rightly they should! But if twere not for those resting across the way, maybe we would not be here havin this little talk. They gave their lives that we might enjoy this beautiful day. Many along this path saved me own life more times than I can rightly count." The old knights tears were falling now onto the saddle bag. "Each o these" he said patting the bag, "is a remembrance of a sacrifice freely given for another. Should we forget that, then we would be dishonoring them, and breaking the code. Can yee understand an old knights ramblin?" he asked, staring straight into Tanny’s eyes. "We can not forget those before us. Look around yee. This once was a most dangerous place to travel even with a full company o knights…Now tis like a walk in Valeana’s garden in Southwall. I owe them, you owe them..we all owe them to carry their memories with us. This one day a memorial to their sacrifice." He finished by handing the bag to the young page and headin for the horses. "Tis time." Was all he said. They mounted up and rode quickly across to the clearing and a large mound in the center. "Twas an awful battle it twas. The fallen were in such a state that we could not easily transport them, so we buried them here" he said indicating a huge mound. "Twenty four Knights and twice as many squires lay here. Ye must place each remembrance upon the mound, speaking their names aloud and repeating the code for which they gave their lives. I shall teach you each in turn. But today, you have but to place yer grand sires." He said handing Tanny the package with his families crest on it. Then he headed to the mound with the others to perform his own ritual remembrance. Tanny took the package gently from the old knight and walked slowly over to the mound and knelt as he saw the old knight do. He carefully pulled out the cloth and lay it upon the mound, making sure to spread it neatly out. The he removed the white rose and placed it in the center. "Lord Tandarius Luther, father of my father. I place these crests o’er yee, one o the family, the t’other of KORT. I come to give remembrance of thy sacrifice for me and mine. And promise that I will nae forget you and yours. And that I shall carry on thy code of Fealty to the Lord of the land, Spirituality, that there is something beyond this mortal world awaiting, Courtesy to others at all times, Honesty in all things, Valor for which I have not proven as yet but surely thee have done before me, Honor, so easy ta say yet hard to keep intact, and lastly Humility, I know yee asked fer no rewards but to serve and help others such as meself. This code I do hereby vow to keep as well as thy memory." He finished by saying a prayer to Tyr for his grand sire and all his fallen brothers and sisters. We done he backed away to watch the old knight continue his remembrance’s. It took several hours for the old knight to finish. A he watched he began to understand as he watched the pride grow on the old knights face as he reverently placed each, saying the name then the code, and then adding a prayer. Finally the old knight was done with his labor of love and walked to the young page smiling.

The weight on his shoulders seemed not so heavy now for Tanny. He actually felt joy. He had been to graveyards before, but never for this purpose. This was not for sorrow at the lose of a loved one, but the joy of remembering! "I accept the vow M’Lord" "I knew yee would young Tandarius Luther. Yer grandsire is surely proud of thee as am I. We have many more before this day is out. Let us off. Tis a beautiful day is it not?" he said smiling as he ruffled Tanny’s locks and headed for the horses and a visit with old friends.